


Just passing through.

by Coloured_Rainbow



Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: Angst, Kissing, M/M, Reunions, but it ends pretty happy, closeted old farts, returning after a decade, stanchez, wendy dipper and mabel catch them smoochin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 17:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20586479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coloured_Rainbow/pseuds/Coloured_Rainbow
Summary: "Get the hell out of my store." Stan demanded."Look, I didn't come here to bicker like an old divorced couple," Rick shrugged, rolling his eyes. "I j-just wanna talk.""You lost that chance! A long time ago!"





	Just passing through.

**Author's Note:**

> I didnt have like any plan for this LOL I just kept writing and it ended up as this. Sorry if you have read One Apocalypse Too Late and are waiting for an update. I've been working on it and it should be out soon. In the meantime, take this :P Its a lot different, but same concepts
> 
> ******EDIT:** Now there is a [lovely picture for this](https://rainbow-flavoured.tumblr.com/post/190155014470/a-huge-thank-you-to-artsymeeshee-for-drawing-this) by Artsymeeshee on Tumblr!!

Stan's head perked up at the sound of the front door's bell, an overly-enthusiastic smile tugging at his lips. Today had been unbearably boring. Transition periods between seasons tended to slow down business, but this was ridiculous: Dipper had been rearranging the same hat rack for the last thirty minutes, Wendy had been on her phone for three times as long, Mabel kept going back and forth between checking her hair in the mirror and looking hopefully out the window, and god knows where Sous was. After hours of listening to nothing but white fuzz and Dipper and Mabel's occasional bickering, hearing that bell was a small taste of salvation.

"Hello! And wel…" Before Stan could finish, he stopped dead at the sight of the customer.

They stepped inside like they owned the place, their long stride backed by an unmistakably infamous pride. Despite them being much older than the last time he saw them, Stan recognized the white lab coat and spiked blue hair faster than he was proud of. He hadn't really ever discarded the image from his mind, so seeing them was almost a relief.

Almost.

The customer darted their eyes back and forth, a small smirk settling on their face. "Wow. Th-This place hasn't changed at all."

Stan was so angry that he could feel himself shaking. He couldn't make himself say anything as they walked further inside and waved at Mabel.

"Hello!" She squeaked. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack! I'm Mabel! Whatchya looking for? Keychains? Necklaces? Bracelets? Sweaters??"

"Mabel," Dipper mumbled from behind a nearby shelf. "Try not to scare off our only customer…?"

"Uh," the customer make a strange face at the twins. "You Stanley's kids?"

Mabel laughed. "You mean Stanford? No, silly! Grunkle Stan doesn't have kids! That would be a whole mess." She paused. "Wait, you know him?"

"Yeah, we were…" their eyes trailed up to the cash register, landing on Stan. "W-We used to… hang out."

"Hang out?!" The exclamation left Stan's mouth before he could think any better of it. He could hardly hear himself over the blood rushing through his ears. "That's it? That's all you can say?"

"Woah, jeez. N-Nice to see you too, pal."

"Nice to--!" Stan slammed his fist down on the table to keep himself from jumping over the counter and tackling them. "Are you kidding?!"

"Why are you--w-what is this--"

"You can't just-just walk in like this!"

"Why not?"

"Are you…! Are you serious? Rick, I swear to god--"

"Wow! L-Look at that! He remembers my name. I'm flattered. What a w-w-warm welcome."

"Uhhhh," Mabel awkwardly shuffled a few steps away from the not-so-customer named Rick. "You two… know each other?" she reiterated.

"Grunkle Stan," Dipper slowly started, a hesitant look on his face. "What's going on? Who is this guy?"

"Who am I?" Rick laughed dryly. "Wh-Why don't you tell 'em, huh? Guess I'm still your dirty little secret after all these--"

"Get the hell out of my store."

"Grunkle Stan!" The twins shouted in unison.

"Woah, lookit--wow." Rick brought his hands up, starting to slowly, sarcastically clap. "The man still--s-still has some fight in him." He shrugged, stepping closer. "Look, I didn't come here to bicker like an old divorced couple. I j-just wanna talk."

"You lost that chance! A long time ago!" Storming around the corner and across the store, Stan approached Rick and pushed him back. To his surprise, Rick didn't try to defend himself. He merely stepped back and braced himself enough to not fall over. "Get out!"

"Don't make this hard."

"Make--! Shut up, didn't you hear me?! Out!"

"Grunkle Stan," Mabel whimpered. "What's going on?"

Stan glanced over at Mabel with an apologetic look before looking back at Rick, lowering his voice and jabbing a finger into his chest. 

"You don't get to just come here and act like everything--you just left! We haven't talked in--you couldn't even find the decency to at least come get me alone?"

"I didn't know," Rick shrugged halfheartedly, an annoyed frown contorting his face.

"Oh, don't even start. You always know."

"I just came by t-t-to say hi."

"You don't get to do that!" Stan harshly whispered. He watched Rick shrink in on himself a little, glad to him embarrassed. Served him right.

“There was never a good time,” Rick explained. “I-I-I didn’t mean for it--I wasn’t supposed to-to be gone this long. After a few years, I figured now was as-as good a time as any.” He placed a hand on Stan’s chest, just as quickly putting it back down at his side. “I-I just… let’s go outside, yeah? I w-w-wanna talk.” 

Taking a moment to level his breathing, Stan glanced up and down Rick’s body. 

“Sorry kids,” Stan breathed, turning around to face the twins. “This is… I gotta deal with this.” 

Leaning to the side to get a peak at Rick, Dipper flashed Stan a skeptical look. “This guy isn’t… dangerous, is he?”

Stan kneeled down, placing a hand on both Dipper and Mabel’s shoulders. “He is… very dangerous. Let me take care of this.” Rick scoffed in the background, making Stan slightly furrow his brows. “I’ll be back soon, okay? You two look after the shop for me.”

“Okay,” Mabel slowly nodded. Stan shot her a soft smirk, ruffling her hair. 

“I’ll be alright, sweetpea. Don’t burn anything down while I’m gone.” Standing up, he looked at them for another few seconds before turning back to Rick, who had an uncharacteristically nervous look on his face. “You. Outside. Now.”

Rick put up his hands in mock surrender, whipping around to head out the front door. 

Dipper watched them leave with his arms crossed, watching them walk past the windows and head to the back. 

“Dang, dude,” Wendy called from her chair in the back. “I didn’t know old men could have that much drama.”

“I’ve never seen him that angry before,” Dipper observed. “And he said that guy’s dangerous--how? Is he, like, a hit man or something? It must be pretty bad for _Grunkle Stan_ to think it’s bad.” 

Mabel shook her head, faintly smiling. “I’m sure it’s fine. They probably just got into an argument and never solved it or something! They’ll figure it out and make up and everything will be alright.”

“I hope so,” Dipper mumbled. “From what I’ve seen, Stan used to be into some pretty shady stuff. I mean, he still kinda is, but…”

“...Wanna goooo… spy on ‘em?” Wendy suggested, mischievously smirking. “Y’know. Just to make sure he’s safe and everything. He might be, like, an evil timelord for all we know, right Dip?”

“...Was that--are you making fun of me or being serious?”

“Depends on how this turns out,” she shrugged. 

“I vote yes,” Mabel nodded with a sense of finality. “Just to make sure he’s okay! If he’s really dangerous, Stan might get hurt. He _is_ just a Grunkle.”

“A Grunkle with a past,” Dipper corrected.

“C’mon, have a little faith!” Mabel softly pushed Dipper to the side. 

“We’ll watch from the roof?” Wendy suggested. 

The twins were quiet for a moment, and then Mabel smiled. 

“From the roof.”

\--------------------

Taking in a shaky breath, Stan leaned up against the back of the shack.

He waved a hand, searching for the right words. “Ten years,” is what he settled on.

“Yeah,” Rick softly replied. “Nearly a-a decade.”

Stan swallowed. “...Where the hell did you go?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t--no, Rick! If you’re gonna come barging back here and talk to me, you’re gonna tell me what the hell happened!” 

“I-I-I p-panicked,” Rick spat defensively. “I-I didn’t… I got scared, alright? S’that what you-you wanna hear?”

“Scared?”

“I… ugh.” Rick ran a hand down his face. “I-I found out that Beth, my--m-my daughter, she-she had another kid. I mean, I-I already knew that she had Summer, b-but this one was a little baby boy. He-He was my Morty. Th-That doesn’t mean a-a lot to you, I-I-I know, but it meant everything to me. He-He was already a few years old and-and I didn’t even know h-h-h-he was born! I-I-I-I couldn’t just--I’d been here t-t-too long a-a-a-a--”

“Hey, will ya calm down?” The words came out a lot more gentle than he meant them to. “You’re doing that stuttering thing.”

“I-I-I-I always stutter, asshole.”

“Not this much.”

Rick took in a breath. “I didn’t mean t-t-to be gone so long. I thought I--I was gonna come back, I swear. I-I thought about you a--I _think_ about you a lot.”

Stan shot Rick a pained look. “You think I don’t think about you too?” He winced at the crack in his voice, pausing a moment to regain his composure. “Rick, I… you were the second person in my life to up and disappear. I-I thought you left because of something I did. I spent hours in between looking for my missing brother looking for you and-and wondering what the hell I did wrong!”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Rick said quietly. 

“I wish you had been there to tell me that. God knows I coulda used it ten fucking years ago.” 

“H-How is… did you ever find…?”

“No. I didn’t. Still missing.”

“Jesus, I-I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. What did you really come here for?”

“N-Nothing!” Rick ran a hand through his hair. “I-I didn’t--I just wanted to see you. I-I was sick of putting it off.”

“What made you think you even deserved to see me again?”

“I-I don’t know. Maybe I don’t. I just--b-but I had to try.”

“Did you?” Stan closed his eyes, taking a long, deep breath. He only opened them again at the feeling of Rick resting his hand on his shoulder. He ran his fingers down along his arm, resting them on his chest. 

“I-I-I…” Rick swallowed, taking a moment to let his mouth catch up with his mind. “I missed you, Stan.”

Stan rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh that was closer to a sob than anything. “I missed you too, you old bastard.”

Chuckling, Rick backed Stan up against the wall of the Mystery Shack, slipping off his fez and plopping it on his own head. “I don’t have to stay if you--if you don’t want me to. I’m just-j-just glad to be back. Can we leave it at that for now?”

“We should probably talk about stuff,” he tiredly mumbled, leaning into Rick’s touch as he ran a hand through Stan’s hair. 

“Can we talk about h-how much I wanna make out with you right now? I’ll give you a hint: i-i-it’s a fucken lot.”

Stan sighed. “You are the worst.”

“...I know.” Leaning down, Rick brushed his nose against Stan’s before sloppily pressing their lips together. 

A sadness ran through Stanley at the way Rick kissed him deeply and ran his hands up his back. It had been so long that he had forgotten what this felt like. Not the kissing or the physical contact, no, but Rick. The Rick Sanchez experience was something so special and foreign and unique. It was like nothing any other man could give you. The annoying thing was that Stan didn’t think anyone who had been with him before could even tell you why that was. He didn’t know why a lot of stuff with Rick was the way it was, but he tried his best to take it at face value. 

Deep down, almost everyone had a soft spot for Rick. He was a hard man to refuse. So, despite having so much anger in his heart for this man, he was willing to put it aside for now and just let himself be a little happy that he was back after all this time. 

Stan sucked in a sharp breath, placing his sturdy hands on Rick’s tiny torso and very reluctantly pulling back. Their faces less than an inch apart, Stan stared right into his eyes.

“You’re not leaving again,” he rasped, running a hand up and down Rick’s side. “You’re staying here and you’re gonna help me look for my brother. Until then, we’ll… forget about stuff for a while. Got it?”

“Got it, b-boss,” Rick smiled, giving Stanley one last peck before stepping back and out of Stan’s embrace. “Time to properly meet the family, r-right?”

“If you can behave.”

“O-Oh, I will. I’ll save everything else for tonight,” he smirked. 

Stan glared, snatching his fez back off of Rick’s head and placing it on his own. “Don’t push your luck.”

\--------------------

Wendy hummed thoughtfully as she stepped out of the attic's window.

"We can't see much of the back from this angle, huh?" She called behind her as Dipper stepped out behind Mabel. “They’re off to the side, we’ll probably have to get along the shingles to get a good look.”

“Uh, kind of steep.” Dipper chuckled nervously, peering over the ledge of the platform they stood on. “We can probably get a good look if we… lean. You know, lean out really far.”

“C’mon, if we don’t hurry then they’ll head back inside. If they come back and we’re all gone, they’ll know what we’re up to.” 

“I can see them!” Mabel called. She was kneeling down on her knees with her head over the edge, her hair falling over her shoulders in waves. Dipper and Wendy walked over as she let out a small exclamation. “That guy--”

“Rick,” Dipper interrupted. 

“Yeah yeah, Rick. He looks upset.”

“What do you mean--what’s going on?” Dipper asked as Wendy knelt down beside Mabel, afraid to follow the girls’ leads. 

“He sure stutters a lot,” Wendy commented. “His whole body shakes as much as his voice.” Pausing, she sucked in a gasp. “Oh my gosh! He just pulled out his timelord watch!”

“Woah!” Mabel shouted. “He just sucked Stan in through a timelord portal!”

“What?!” Dipper dropped to the floor and gripped the end of the platform, anxiously scanning the ground. “Did he--! What?” Dipper could feel his face heat up as the girls started to laugh. 

“Kidding,” Wendy shrugged. 

“Heh. Right.” Dipper cleared his throat, putting on a serious expression to prevent further embarrassing himself. “Well Mabel, you were right. Looks like they’re arguing about something.”

“They seem upset.” Mabel let her shoulders sag, resting her chin on the floor. “I hope Grunkle Stan’s alright.”

“Doesn’t look like he’s in danger,” Wendy reassured, shooting Dipper a passing glance. “I think they’ll be alright. They probably used to be, like, on a bowling team that broke up or something. You know: old man stuff.”

Dipper hummed as he watched Rick slip off Stan’s fez and rest it on his own head. “I don’t know. It seemed like something more serious than that. Rick said they hadn’t talked in, what, ten years? And he apparently just left Stan one day.”

“Maybe,” Mabel started, “he _is_ a hitman. And he--killed Grunkle Stan’s wife!! That's why he can never get a girlfriend because he's still searching for the man who took everything from him."

Wendy snorted. "Yeah. _That's_ why he can never get a date."

Dipper squinted down at the two men as the girl's both giggled about something he didn't hear. Rick leaned in closer to Stan, backing him up against the wall. He couldn't hear the faint sound of their voices anymore because they were talking in such hushed tones.

Dipper opened his mouth to commentate on what he was seeing, but shut himself up before he could.

"Oh. My. God."

Wendy took a second to stop laughing. "What's up, Dip?" She paused when he didn't reply. "...Dipper?"

She watched with a raised eyebrow as he simply pointed down over the edge of the roof. She and Mabel both slowly followed his gaze, their jaws dropping in comical unison. 

Rick had Stan pushed up against the wall with a hand buried in his hair, Stan’s hands snaking around the other man’s waist. Rick towered over Stan by quite a few inches and was leaning down to accommodate for his size. Their lips interlocked, they kissed each other a bit too intensely for it to be considered anything spur of the moment. 

“Oh my god,” Wendy parroted. “That is. That’s disgusting.”

“OH MY GOSH!!” Mabel shouted a bit too loudly. “Grunkle Stan is--WHAT?!”

“I agree on the ‘disgusting’ part. Watching Stan kiss someone isn’t exactly a favorite pastime of mine.” 

“No _wonder_ he never finds a date, his heart already belongs to someone!”

“What about him being dangerous?” Dipper asked. “Stan was so angry before. What changed?”

“I told you they’d make up,” Mabel smirked. “They’re so cute…! In a… weird-gross-old-men-kissing-behind-a-shack kinda way.”

“No. Something’s up. I don’t trust this Rick guy.”

“C’mon, dude.” Wendy softly nudged Dipper’s shoulder, making him grab onto the edge as if he might fall. “He was probably just angry. I guess they’re, like, old lovers. They probably hooked up back in the 1800’s.”

Mabel chuckled. “Yeah. And they probably spoke with old-timey accents. ‘Oh my, Rick, do I _fancy_ you!’ Heheh. Oh, oh! I have the perfect sweater idea for him!”

“No--Mabel!” Dipper glared. “Come on, we obviously can’t trust him. He’s hiding something, I can feel it.”

“Oh, c’mon Dipper! Can’t you just let Grunkle Stan be happy? It’s about time he got a gir--a boyfriend!”

“We barely know him! He-He could’ve brainwashed Stan for all we know. Timelord--Timelord!”

“Yeah. A timelord with a thing for our grunkle. I trust Stan to hang out with good people!”

“Well I--!”

“Yo,” Wendy called. “Hate to break this up, but they’re heading back inside. We need to get down. Like, now.”

\--------------------

“Hey kids!” Stan called out as he walked inside. Dipper was over at his same hat rack, Mabel was staring longingly out the window, and Wendy was back in her chair. “Oh. Haven’t moved, huh?”

“No customers,” Mabel said, holding back a smirk as best as she could manage.

Dipper glanced at Rick, who stood just next to the door. “So, uh. What--What’s going on?”

“It was a big misunderstanding,” Stan waved dismissively. “We haven’t seen each other in a long time, and there were some… loose ends that needed tying.” Wendy hid a smile behind her phone as he continued. “So! I want you guys to meet Rick. He’s a real old buddy of mine, so go easy on him, huh?”

Weaving a belch into his words, Rick let out a slurred, “Ssssup.” 

“Hi!” Mabel squeaked. “I love your hair, by the way. And the lab coat is… sciencey!”

Rick smirked. “Hm. Glad to know you-your kids have good taste.”

“So, what, are you just passing through town?” Dipper asked a bit too skeptically.

Rick shot him a smug grin for a reason he wasn’t exactly sure of. “I was, but not a-any more! I’m camping with you guys for the next few weeks, babaaay!”

“What?!” The twins shouted in unison, although one exclamation came out much more excited than the other. 

“Yep!” Stan slapped Rick on the back, making him take a step forward. “He’ll be bunking with me. Well, a room over, but you get the point.” 

Wendy shot Dipper a look that he did not take a liking to. “Ew. Gross,” he mouthed at her. 

“Hell yeah, motherfuckers! Mystery Shack Rick time!”

“And,” Stan laughed nervously. “He’ll be working on that mouth of his.”

“Y-You’re one to talk.”

“I’m gonna go show him around.” Stan looked between all three kids. “You guys good to sit around for a few more minutes?”

“Yep!” Mabel smiled. “You two have fun, hehe.”

“Right,” Stan hesitantly nodded, shuffling off to the side and leaving the room, his voice slowly fading into the distance. “Well, I’ll show you our--you’re room first. It’s up here, but you…...”

“Well. Good luck dealing with that,” Wendy laughed. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of times you two walk in on them smooching.”

“I’m gonna go start his sweater!” Mabel pushed off of the wall, darting for her room.

Wendy walked over and rested a hand on Dipper’s shoulder, shooting him a look he couldn’t exactly decipher. “Don’t worry so much. Maybe this’ll be good for the old guy.”

“Yeah,” Dipper sighed. “I hope so. I’m going to keep an eye on him for now, though.” 

“Be careful,” Wendy jokingly warned. “Don’t want to walk in on them doing their old man business.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, mockingly making kissy noises. 

“Ewww. Not looking forward to that.”

“Heheh. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Dipper nodded. “Yeah. Just fine.”


End file.
